Zuma staff in limbo as former president packs his bags

Feb 21 , 2018

Former president Jacob Zuma has not briefed his staff members with regards to where their future lies‚ at least for those who were not employed permanently.

Former presidency director-general Frank Chikane‚ who was once a chief of staff of former president Thabo Mbeki‚ said Zuma would be allowed to keep one house for a month but has to clear the other official residence.

“The normal procedure is that when a president retires or when his term of office comes to an end‚ the president has a right to keep one of the houses for a month. As far as I’m concerned‚ the president has to release one of the houses and clear it up‚” said Chikane.

“Normally the [former] presidents keep the Pretoria one and clear up the Cape Town house because the president can stay in one of those houses while they are preparing to leave. The new president would then move into one of the houses but in most instances there’s no hurry [to move]‚” he added.

Chikane‚ who has been critical of Zuma as part of the ANC veterans structure‚ said the presidency system has been created in such a way that the outgoing leader is respected. “The staff that is attached to the president and are on contract‚ such as special advisor’s‚ they go with the president.

But there is core staff in the presidency that remain staff and don’t change‚” added Chikane. Zuma had three houses in Durban‚ Pretoria and Cape Town when he was president of the republic. Efforts to get hold of Zuma’s spokesperson‚ Bongani Ngqulunga‚ drew a blank.